Imran Khan: What I do now fulfils me like never before

From playboy cricketer to idealistic politician, Imran Khan believes he can change the lives of people in Pakistan

It was a boiling hot day in Pakistan, with the temperature soaring towards 50C. Imran Khan, the much-loved Pakistan cricket captain, famed for his good looks and non-stop partying, sat at his mother’s bedside as she lay dying from cancer. “The pain was the worst,” he recalls. “Seeing her in such terrible pain was heartbreaking.”

Opposite his mother lay an old man, also suffering from cancer. He was visited every night by his brother. “I found out he was working as a labourer in the scorching sun to be able to pay the fees for the hospital. He was slogging in the vicious heat all day. I couldn’t bear to think about what that man was going through. I had to do something. I had to build a hospital that would provide free care for those suffering from cancer. The treatment costs were beyond 90% of the population. It was